{Lexington, Kentucky}...A federal jury in Lexington deliberated about two hours Monday after hearing closing arguments in the case of Michael Leman, a Louisiana businessman accused of conspiring to distribute prescription drugs in eastern Kentucky through multiple pain clinics, most of the patients from Floyd and Pike counties. Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger West told jurors that Leman made $1.26 million over 26 months by dealing Oxycodone and Methadone through Urgent Care Services clinics. Leman and clinics in Philadelphia and Cincinnati are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Over the last four weeks, jurors heard multiple former employees of Urgent Care Services testify that the clinics were merely a front to sell the pills to people who weren't using it for medicinal reasons. Leman's attorney, Richard Simmons, told jurors that government witnesses were unreliable and were testifying because they thought it would get them lower sentences, and they were willing to lie under oath to get it.
